Cong urges Centre to hold delimitation process in Telangana, Andhra alongside J-K

Telangana Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Thursday urged the Central government to hold simultaneous delimitation of constituencies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh alongside Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to ANI, Reddy said, "The process of delimitation will be subject to the provisions of Article 170 of Indian Constitution after August 5, 2019 and prior to that date, the delimitation of constituencies was subject to the state constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and to the Jammu and Kashmir State Representation of People's Act of 1957."

Bringing Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in this context, the Congress leader said, "Going back to 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act has provided both the Telugu speaking states to increase their number of assembly seats in both the states respectively. In Telangana, assembly seats were increased from 119 to 153. While in Andhra Pradesh, the assembly seats were increased from 175 to 225. And these were subject to the provisions of Article 170 of the Indian Constitution."

He further said the Central government should take into consideration of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the delimitation exercise. He urged the Central Government that the simultaneous delimitation of constituencies must happen in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh alongside Jammu and Kashmir.

"We request the Central government that both the Telugu speaking states must also be included as this is coming out of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act of 2014. Under the Reorganization Act of 2014, there was another provision to hand over 7 revenue mandal of the erstwhile Khammam district of Telangana to Andhra Pradesh and there was an unconstitutional order issued by the Election Commission of India in September 2018. This must also be done in a constitutional manner."

( With inputs from ANI )